Woodford probe delay lands FCA in sizzling water as 500,000 buyers stay the darkish over fund scandal

The City watchdog has come under fire over the Neil Woodford scandal as MPs and peers said 500,000 investors remain in the dark over its findings six years on.

Savers had £3.7billion trapped in fund manager Woodford’s flagship fund when it was shuttered by regulators in 2019. But the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned in September that action against him may not be resolved until 2026 or later.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services has raised questions about the FCA’s handling of the case.

‘The FCA is yet to publish its full report on the matter, leaving more than 500,000 people in the dark about what went on,’ the group said in an open letter to the Commons Treasury select committee yesterday.  The letter said the committee had written to the watchdog in 2022, calling for a swift conclusion to the probe.

It also asked why the FCA had taken so long to complete the investigation. And the letter queried why the watchdog did not act ‘meaningfully and promptly in response to the red flags reported to it’ as far back as 2015.

A spokesperson for the FCA said it sympathised with those who had lost money and had worked to secure a compensation scheme which had partially compensated investors and which was backed by 90 per cent of investors.

Fund crisis: The Financial Conduct Authority warned in September that action against Neil Woodford may not be resolved until 2026 or later